California Institute of Technology

Electromechanical Detection of Pathogens with Self-Assembled Nucleic Acid Biosensors

Urmann K., Bahnemann J., Chikneyan Z., Kasmaee L.M., Hoffmann M.R., California Institute of Technology, US

Infectious diseases, primarily caused by enteric pathogens, remain a major cause of death, especially in remote locations of the developing world. Routine monitoring of pathogen contaminations is therefore crucial. We seek to apply quartz crystal [...]

Nanofabrication Techniques for Fully Integrated Sensing Platforms

Mujeeb-U-Rahman M., Adalian D., Sencan M., Scherer A., California Institute of Technology, US

Designing small scale integrated systems for sensing and actuation has gained lots of interest in recent years. Currently, subsystems are fabricated separately and then bonded together to form an integrated platform. This poses a fundamental [...]

Micro/Nano Patterned Integrated Electrochemical Sensors for Implantable Applications

Mujeeb-U-Rahman M., Adalian D., Sencan M., Scherer A., California Institute of Technology, US

Electrochemical sensors are very important candidates for many sensing and actuation applications. Micro/Nano scale techniques are very appealing in designing these sensors for completely integrated systems. Such systems can provide accurate and long-term measurements of [...]

Carbon Nanotube Arrays with Tunable Wettability and Their Applications

Indrat Aria A., California Institute of Technology, US

A combination of UV/ozone treatment and vacuum-pyrolysis process that can be used for fine tuning the wetting properties of the CNTs is introduced. In contrast to the widely known wet-chemical methods the UV/ozone treatment is [...]

Characterization and in vivo efficacy of targeted nanoparticles for systemic siRNA delivery to tumors

Bartlett D.W., Davis M.E., California Institute of Technology, US

This abstract highlights the results from our latest work in the design and application of targeted nanoparticles for systemic siRNA delivery. Over the past several years, we have performed extensive physicochemical and biological characterization of [...]

Coin-Shaped Reactor in Microfluidic Devices Used for Radiopharmaceutical Synthesis

Elizarov A.M., Kolb H.C., van Dam R.M., Heath J.R., Padgett H.C., Huang J., Daridon A., California Institute of Technology, US

A microfluidic device designed and optimized for the multi-step synthesis of PET (Positron Emisssion Tomography) probes is presented. It is the first device in its class to produce radiopharmaceuticals of sufficient quality and quantity (over [...]

Formation of Biotinylated Alkylthiolate Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold

Canaria C.A., Maloney J.R., Yu C-J, Smith J.O., Fraser S.E., Lansford R., California Institute of Technology, US

We demonstrate the successful formation of functional biotinylated monolayers on gold surfaces using aqueous solvents. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), alternating current voltammetry (ACV), and fluorescence microscopy have been used to characterize the films. Protein binding assays [...]

Frequency Stability and Noise Characteristics of Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) Nanoelectromechanical Resonators

Feng X.L., Roukes M.L., California Institute of Technology, US

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are emerging as great candidates for a variety of technological applications ranging from sensors and actuators to signal processing and communications [1]. Nanofabricated high-frequency (often in the VHF/UHF bands) electromechanical resonators (i.e., [...]

Single-molecule Fluorescence and Force Microscopy Employing Carbon Nanotubes

Wade L.A., Shapiro I., Ma Z., Quake S.R., Collier C.P., California Institute of Technology, US

The observation of spectroscopic signals, in response to mechanically induced changes in biological macromolecules can be enabled at an unprecedented level of resolution by coupling single-molecule manipulation/sensing using carbon nanotubes with single-molecule fluorescence imaging. Proteins, [...]

Mechanical Damping due to Interface Motion in Micro-Resonators

Pawaskar D.N., Phillips R., California Institute of Technology, US

Mechanical damping strongly influences the sensitivity and resolution of nano-sensors and actuators. In this paper, we have investigated one of the key intrinsic mechanisms responsible for dissipation of vibrational energy in beams composed of a [...]